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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: degree · arm · sharp · club · spring · tube · swing · jam

  1. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. club — for golf
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. swing — music
  7. swing — to play on
  8. jam — to spread on bread
  9. degree — temperature
  10. tube — a container
  11. spring — a coil
  12. spring — of water
  13. spring — the season
  14. jam — a tight spot
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. club — a group
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. tube — the underground
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. swing — in golf
  21. jam — in traffic
  22. sharp — clever
  23. degree — an amount
  24. degree — from a university

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com